Hiraeth
by bloomsburry
Summary: During a solo mission, Sakura sees a strange-looking and injured man lying on the ground. She instinctively heals him of course. However, Sakura does not expect what follows afterward, for the man - or rather, the God Loki - to repay a life debt to her after she saves his life. (Loki x Sakura)
1. Prologue

Hiraeth - a homesickness for a home to which you can't return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past.

.

.

.

Sakura drops from the tree and immediately kneels down beside the injured man lying on the ground.

At first she finds the man's clothing strange, he wore green and gold ensemble that makes him look like he belongs in a royal family. What is more disconcerting is the horned helmet he is wearing that makes him appear like some kind of Demon. Although Sakura is not afraid of him in the least, but it will make her task challenging if she discovers that the man might pose a threat to her.

However, considering that the man remain unconscious while she cast an assessment jutsu over him, Sakura hopes that the man will remain that way until she finishes healing him.

Sakura soon discovers that the man is hemorrhaging from the inside and she instantly sets to work. Pouring healing chakra into her palms, she presses it into the man's chest and begins healing him. She stops the internal bleeding at once and concentrates on knitting the torn blood vessels that she can sense with her chakra.

She observes how the man's chest rise and fall rapidly while the man seems to have trouble breathing due to his punctured lung. Sakura also notices the nasty bruises and small scratches grazing the man's handsome features. But those are minor injuries which she can tend to later after she is done healing the man's major wounds.

Once she is sure that she has knitted most of the torn blood vessels, she hastily begins to analyze the damage to the man's internal organs. There are no entry or exit wounds that denote that the man has been stab by someone. In fact, it seems the internal bleeding must have been cause by a strong blow to the chest area, like someone has repeatedly thrown the strange man around like rag doll.

The man suddenly groans and Sakura looks up in time to see the man opening his emerald green eyes.

"Don't move," she advises the man as she continues to heal him. "You are badly injured."

The man simply stares at her in silence.

"May I ask how you came upon your injuries?" Sakura asks after a moment.

The dark-haired man, however, remain silent while a frown mar his brows.

"Has your throat been damage as well? Is that the reason why you can't speak?" She probes as she met the man's penetrating green eyes.

The man then opens his mouth to answer, but what comes out are words that Sakura doesn't understand.

"**Who are you?" **The man says to her in a strange language.

In response, Sakura can only stare at the man blankly. She wonders what he has said to her, but more than that, she wonders what she has gotten herself into.


	2. The Honor to Serve

Loki continues to stare blankly at the strange pink-haired young woman kneeling beside him.

"Watashi wa anata ga itta koto o rikai shite imasen," she says to him.

Loki suddenly realizes that the woman is speaking in a different language. A language he has heard in Midgard before. It sounds like Japanese.

A moment ago, he was too dazed to use his magic to understand what the woman was saying. Now, however, Loki no longer feels incapacitated like an incredible Hulk has just recently thrown him around like a ragdoll. Hence, he slowly unravels the magic within him and uses his Allspeech ability to finally communicate with the pink-haired woman properly.

"I apologize but I didn't quite understand what you said earlier," He says to her.

Loki is speaking in his mother tongue, but with his Allspeech ability, the woman will hear and understand him perfectly in her language.

"I was still a bit dazed when you began speaking to me," Loki explains while he tries to sit up.

"No, don't move yet!" the woman orders while she gently pushes him back down on the ground. "I've just healed your injuries. So it's best for you to remain still for a few minutes before you start moving again."

Loki frowns at her but reluctantly concedes to her demand.

"Are you a healer?" He asks curiously while he scrutinizes her.

Loki first notices the young woman's large, green eyes on her heart-shaped face. He also notes her small, pert nose; her prominent forehead; her thin, wide mouth which is currently pressed into a grim line.

_She is quite young. Perhaps no more than seventeen in Midgardian years._ Loki thinks as he asesses her closely.

He inwardly acknowledges that the young woman has a face that most will call pretty, but it is nothing remarkable that makes you look twice in her direction, except for the shocking color of her hair.

Even now, Loki feels a bit disconcerted by the woman's shoulder-length pink hair, which doesn't appear that it is a result from a dye that female mortals love to apply on their hair as a fashion statement. In fact, the young woman looks far more striking with her unique hair, especially when combined with her expressive, emerald eyes.

After scanning the stranger's features, Loki allows his eyes to wander over her entire figure. He notices her red sleeveless shirt and a pair of black fingerless gloves on her hands; hands that were still pressed on his chest. Then, his gaze briefly flashes on her pink apron over a pair of black shorts while he sees a beige-colored pack strapped on her back, where he suspects her medical supplies and other equipment are stored. Finally, his eyes settle down on the odd assortment of blades strapped to the woman's weapon holsters. There is also a metal headband on her forehead with a strange symbol on it that Loki finds intriguing.

At a first glance, the young woman certainly doesn't look like a healer as he scrutinizes the strange weapons she carry with growing interest.

"Yes, I'm a medic," is the woman's only answer while she looks at him with the same curiosity as he regards her.

"I see," Loki mutters in thought. "May I know at least the name of the person who healed me?"

"My name is Sakura Haruno," She replies. "And you are?"

"Loki Odin-" He instantly pauses and grits his teeth when he realizes that he nearly introduces himself as _that_ man's own son.

"Just call me Loki," He tells her instead.

"Well, it's good to meet you Loki, but can I ask how you were injured? Also, I want to know from what Hidden Village are you from? I don't see any headband on you so I assume you are a civilian..." The pink-haired woman named Sakura states.

"To answer your first question, I was injured because there was a green-hulking creature, who dealt a terrible blow on me - more on my pride than on my body, mind you... As for what Hidden Village...I apologize but I am not quite certain what you mean by Hidden Village...or are you simply asking me where I lived?" He inquires, looking confused.

"Yes, I'm asking where you are from originally... and even though you turn out to be just a travelling civilian, I might need to see some kind of identification or travel documents that will prove your identity and current residence before I let you go since you are currently within Konoha Borders as we speak," she tells him.

"Konoha Borders?" Loki frowns at the name of the location. It sounds foreign, but not an overly odd name coming from Midgard. "May I know if I am now in one of Midgard's countries called Japan?"

"Midgard? Japan? I'm sorry, but I don't think I have heard of those places before…"

"Midgard is another name for Earth and Japan is the name of a country where I assume we are in," Loki informs her.

"Oh…" the woman mumbles, appearing more puzzled. "Yes, you are on Earth but we are not in Japan. We do not have a country called Japan. In fact, we have ten major countries and the one we are in is called the Land of Fire, specifically we are within the borders of my Village named Konoha…"

Loki regards the woman and tries to see the deceit there, but can't find anything that tells him that the woman is lying to him. As soon as he realizes this, Loki finally understands the complicated situation he finds himself in.

Apparently, he is no longer anywhere near New York, but somewhere else instead, even perhaps a different world altogether. When Loki teleported himself from the Avengers Tower after Hulk had nearly thoroughly beaten him, he thought he travelled to a secure location using a great amount of magic. He certainly did not expect to end up in another world.

Since his fall from the destroyed Bifrost, his magic never felt the same. Hence, Loki tampered with the mind stone's power to help with his unstable magic and it must be this very reason that might have contributed to his teleportation mishap.

"I see…" Loki says. "If what you say is true, then I am afraid I can't give you the travel documents or personal identifications you are asking for."

"Why?" comes the young woman's question and Loki observes how her emerald eyes seem to narrow in suspicion.

_Because I am not from this world. _He wants to say. However, Loki knows that the young woman will not believe him easily if he tells her the truth.

So Loki does what he does best.

He lies instead.

"The enormous creature, who has nearly dealt a fatal blow upon me, has taken most of my personal effects - and might I add - has also bruised my pride and may have negatively affected my formidable reputation amongst my people...Now, I am without the necessary documents that will allow me safe passage into your Village." Loki informs the young healer.

"You know...you can just say that you were robbed by some bandit or something like that. No need to sound so..._formal_ and make it appear more complicated, like there was an _international incident_ that occurred." the pink-haired woman remarks, sounding amused by his explanation.

_Well, if you only know about the fact that I led a Chitauri army into New York with the intent to invade Midgard before I arrived in your world, you will probably consider it more than an International incident, you foolish mortal..._ Loki inwardly seethes in displeasure at the woman's amused tone.

He slowly sits up again. Thankfully, the young healer does not stop him this time.

"I apologize if I am making this to be more than it seemed. Although I must admit that I am a bit out of my depth here." Loki states while he flashes her a contrite smile. All fake, of course. "I am new to this country, this _Land of Fire_...and as you may have noticed from my clothing, I come from an affluent family. I admit that it was my mistake to travel alone and without any guards to protect me, especially dress as I am. You can say that I was in a hurry to leave my home and did not take anything else with me except for what I have right now…You see...I was embroiled in a deep conflict with another political faction where I come from, and there was a lot of unrest and I took my chance to escape the place before my enemies does something in retaliation...However, some time ago when I arrived at this location, I was attacked by some kind of green creature with incredible power. The creature only stole some of the items that he was able to take from my person, but left most of my clothing perpetually untouched, considering that it's imbued with a certain type of power that only my family's personal tailor can create."

"Are you saying that you just escaped from some kind of civil war? Where exactly do you come from? Because so far I haven't heard any kind of political upheaval in nearby neighboring villages or towns…" the woman queries with a heavy frown upon her prominent brows.

"As much as I want to tell you more about the ongoing conflict where I hail from, I must decline to offer further information to a young woman whom I just met. I do not want my enemies coming after me once they realize where I am now. And since you are a healer, I must ask you to keep our encounter a secret. My life is at stake here if my presence is revealed to anyone who is actively seeking for my whereabouts."

"I'm sorry, but I can't promise you that at all...I might have healed your wounds, and there are certain instances that I am obligated to keep my patient's identity and their current location a secret, but these are only applicable to shinobis of Konoha, which you are clearly not...So when I go back to my Village, I have to report everything that happened during my mission, which will also include my encounters or altercations with anyone on my way home," the woman imparts to him.

From all those words that poured forth from the woman's mouth, the only thing that caught Loki's attention was a word he finds quite surprising.

"Shinobi?" He asks in complete disbelief.

He knows what the word is. He has heard of it before, which makes him think more about mercenaries and their mastery over both stealth and espionage. However, it probably has different connotations in this world. If it does, then he definitely does not fully grasp its entire meaning here yet.

The woman, Sakura, tilts her head to the side when she hears his inquiry.

"Are you asking me if I'm a shinobi? If you are, then yes...I'm a Konoha shinobi," She confirms while she meets his gaze.

Loki stares at the pink-haired woman for a long while before he finally replies, "If you are a shinobi indeed, then I will not stop you from following the protocols of your profession. However, since you are the one who healed me - and from a near fatal wound at that - then consider me in your debt."

"No, you don't owe me anything. I'm a medic ninja and I took an oath to heal anyone who needs my help and you definitely needed one the moment I saw you. So you don't need to pay me back for healing you," She states firmly.

"I must insist. I come from a family who strongly believes that all life is sacred. You healed my injuries that might have killed me. It is only right that I do something to repay you for giving me another chance to live again. So I will honor the gift of life you have given me through a life debt," Loki persists.

It's true that Loki does owe the pink-haired woman for healing him, but he is also planning to use her to his advantage. Under the false pretense of being indebted to her, he can easily stay by her side without suspicion. This will also be a good cover for him to have if the young woman decides to take him to her Village, where he can use this time to learn more about her world and hopefully find his way back to his old world once again.

"What does this life debt entail?" is the woman's query.

"It means that I have to remain by your side until my life debt is fulfilled," Loki explains.

"And how do you fulfill a life debt?"

"By saving your life, of course," comes his swift answer.

The lie comes so easily to him that it almost feels like breathing.

At his statement, the young woman stares at him blankly before she finally replies.

"Sorry, but I must say no."

Loki, of course, doesn't take 'No' for an answer.


End file.
